Dow Chemical Employees' CU gave back 70% of the interest members paid on eligible loans and 70% of the interest they'd earned on their savings in 2017. Members also received rebates on Visa Debit Card transactions.

President/CEO Dennis Hanson said the rebates and rewards were the largest ever giveback the credit union, which has returned a share of its earnings to members every year since 1980.

"It is only through the engagement of our members and our prudent management of members' deposited funds that we are able to be one of only a handful of financial institutions nationally to share its earnings with members to this extent while still maintaining a healthy capital cushion," Hanson said.

The second-largest new bonus was announced by Robins Financial Credit Union of Warner Robins, Ga. ($2.4 billion in assets, 185,866 members). It paid a $12 million dollar "Loyalty Reward" to over 97,000 members in December based on deposit balances, loan balances, and overall usage of its products and services.

The payout compares with Robins Financial CU's $37.3 million in net income for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, according to NCUA data. Its ROA for the period was 1.62%, double the national average of 0.77% for all federally insured credit unions.

In total, the nine credit unions' bonuses represented 54% of their $73.1 million in net income for the 12 months ending Sept. 30. They encompassed 781,180 members and $9.7 billion in assets.

The others were:

• First Financial of Maryland FCU, Lutherville, Md. ($1 billion in assets, 64,602 members) which paid out moret than $2 million for 2017.
• DATCU, Denton, Texas ($936.3 million in assets, 93,669 members), which paid a bonus dividend of $1.9 million Jan. 1 based on 0.25% of qualified members' annual average deposit balance.
• Cooperative Teachers CU, Tyler, Texas ($115.4 million in assets, 6,171 members), which paid $95,000 (a minimum payout of $5.00) in December.
• Sioux Falls FCU, Sioux Falls, S.D. ($265 million in assets, 28,113 members), which paid out $1 million in bonus dividends on Dec. 31 to members based on a percentage of savings and loans.
• Empower FCU, Syracuse, N.Y. ($1.6 billion in assets, 172,291 members), which paid $3.5 million in 'give-back' bonus dividends and interest rebates.
• SAFE FCU, Sumter, S.C. ($1 billion in assets, 118,520 members), which paid members more than $1 million annual bonus dividends and interest rebates on Dec. 31.
• Ideal CU, Woodbury, Minn. ($694.7 million in assets, 52,337 members), which paid $532,150 to its "VIP+" members in January, representing 10% of its 2017 earnings.

Ideal CU has targeted its rewards through its VIP+ program. To qualify, members must have a savings account, an active personal checking account and conduct a minimum of 144 checking transactions throughout the year via debit and credit card, checks, ATM and ACH transactions.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul credit union has increased its VIP members by 17% since 2012. This year's dividend went to 4,406 VIP+ members with cash dividends between $50 and $600.

"The VIP program is designed to encourage members to bring all of their accounts to Ideal and when they do, we reward their loyalty by paying an annual VIP dividend," President/CEO Brian Sherrick said.

Cooperative Teachers CU in Texas has paid out $450,000 in bonuses in the past five years. The latest dividend equals about 2.5 months of extra dividends.

"When the credit union does well, their members share in those benefits," a Cooperative Teachers CU news release said. "It is becoming less frequent that credit unions pay bonus dividends."